Heart Events
by dogluvr91
Summary: I decided to write a story that focuses mainly on the heart events between my favorite harvest moon couple but there will be other stuff too. Rated T just to be safe...i may decide to change it though. ChelseaxVaughn
1. The Meeting

Hi all. Um so my sister got this game a few weeks ago and I fell in love with it. So anyway, this my first time writing a Harvest Moon fanfic so I'm not sure if it will be any good. I would really like to keep the characters as…in character as possible so if they are completely off I would really appreciate so constructive criticism.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters

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Vaughn's P.O.V

I walked up the worn stone path grumbling to myself as I tripped on yet another loose stone almost dropping the bag of feed that I was carrying. _I can't believe that I'm on this damn island for an hour and Mirabell has me acting as her delivery boy. I didn't come to this island to deliver chicken feed!_

_-FLASHBACK_

"Mirabell? Julia? Anyone here?"

"Vaughn? Is that you? Ow! Give me one second"

I stood by the counter looking towards the back room where I had heard Mirabell's voice come from. I heard several loud clanging sounds and a thump that made me jump slightly. I started forward thinking that maybe she would need a hand but stopped as Mirabell pushed through the back door.

"Vaughn it's good to see you again. Listen I know that this is a little sudden but I have a favor to ask of you."

"But-" I was cut off as Mirabell handed me a bag of chicken feed.

"Just follow the north road until you reach the farmhouse. I would do this myself but Julia and I are catching the next ferry to the mainland. Don't worry we should be back before long. Julia we have to go."

"Coming! Oh Vaughn hi."

I nodded to her adjusting my grip on the feed bag.

"Hahaha well I see that mom already has you working," she said to me smiling slightly.

"Vaughn we won't be gone long I promise."

Before I knew what was happening I was alone in the shop holding a bag of feed that I was supposed to deliver to someone I had never met before. _Well I guess I might as well go meet this farmer. After all he's probably the one who will be buying the animals anyway._

_-END FLASHBACK_

That was how I ended up standing outside an old farmhouse that looked as if it had seen better days. Setting down the bag of feed I was just about to knock when a voice called out behind me.

"Can I help you?"

I turned to see a girl who looked like she couldn't have been older then eighteen walking towards me. Her long auburn colored hair was kept out of her face by a red bandana the long tresses curling slightly at the ends. She was wearing a blue tank top that exposed tan muscular arms evidence that whoever this person was she spent a lot of time working outside. A blue plaid button up shirt was tied around her slim waist. Her long legs were clad in a pair of worn jeans the knees showing more wear then other parts. As she came closer I immediately noticed that I didn't tower over her like I did Julia and Mirabell. The top of her head was almost level with my eyes meaning she had to be at least 5' 8" if not slightly taller.

"Mirabell told me to deliver this," I said indicating to the bag of feed on the ground.

"Oh! I was just about to go down and get that thank you." She gave me a smile and I swore I felt my heart tug a little bit at the sight. _What the hell?!_ Reaching up I tugged the brim of my hat down so that it covered more of my face. Giving her a brief nod in parting I turned and headed back down the path towards the town.

"Wait!"

I stopped half turned towards her.

"My name is Chelsea."

"Vaughn. "

"Ah, you're the person Julia was talking about, the animal trader right?"

I was a little taken aback by that. Julia had told this person about me? I nodded and she gave me that smile again.

"So does that mean that you're going to be living here too?"

I shook my head. "I work on the main land so I'm only here Wednesdays and Thursdays."

"Oh." The disappointed look on her face made me feel uncomfortable. _What is wrong with this girl? How can she be disappointed that someone she just met won't be living on the same island as her?_

"Well, I have to get back to work," I said awkwardly. Inwardly I winced at how gruff my voice sounded. It wasn't that I disliked her I just wasn't good at dealing with people. Especially people like this girl. She smiled at me again and I felt that weird tug again.

"Well I'll see you around then," she said giving me another warm smile.

I turned abruptly and had to fight the need to run down the path away from the one responsible for making me feel like this. As soon as I was out of sight from the farm house I took off my hat and ran a hand roughly through my hair. _Well that went well_ I thought sarcastically to myself. My mind replayed the way she had smiled at me…three times. I could feel my cheeks start to heat up and realized with a feeling of horror that I was embarrassed. About what I had no idea but there was no mistaking this abhorrent feeling. I decided at that moment that I was going to have as little to do with the farm girl as possible. I didn't realize at the time how hard it was going to be to keep that resolve.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I decided that I wanted to try writing in Vaughn's point of view but I am not sure if I will write all the chapters like this. Reviews are very much appreciated :D


	2. The Meeting part 2

Hi all! Thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter! Last chapter was in Vaughn's point of view so this time I decided to try writing in Chelsea's point of view…hahaha we'll see how that went.

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The soft chirping of birds and the gentle warmth of the sun's rays brought me out my warm cocoon of slumber. Rolling over I saw that the clock read 7:00. _I really should get up_, I thought to myself yawning. I smiled slightly to myself thinking that if Taro knew that I had allowed myself to sleep in so late he would probably have a fit. It wasn't that I didn't value his opinion and advice; it was just that sometimes I thought he went a little overboard. Shooting the clock one last look I threw back the covers and got out of bed. Stretching briefly I walked over to my dresser I rummaged through the drawers, finally pulling out a pair of my work jeans and a plain white t-shirt. Changing from my pajamas to my work clothes I quickly ran a brush through my hair before pulling it up into a high ponytail. It was starting to get really long; I would have to ask Julia if she had some time to give me a haircut. Taking a quick look in the mirror hung on the wall by my bed I opened the door and headed outside to start my chores.

Even though it was still early the sun was shining brightly, and the temperature was easily in the mid sixties already promising that today would be at least warm if not hot. I decided to water my crops a little bit extra today just to be safe. That decided I cut across the field headed towards my chicken coop. As I walked I took a quick inventory of all the weeds, rocks, and bits of lumber that littered the ground. It didn't look nearly as bad as it had when I first arrived at the farm but there was definitely room for major improvement. I had managed to clear out most of the western half of the field and had planted a few squares of basic crops but the eastern side of the field was still a mess. Clearing the eastern half of the field was my current project on the farm right now, well that and trying to save up the money for a dairy barn.

Reaching the chicken coop I opened the door and stepped inside. I paused a moment to let my eyes adjust to the change in light before scanning the ground for my chick. Taro had given me the little chick a few days ago and I still wasn't accustomed to how it seemed to pop out from nowhere. I kept thinking that one of these days I was going to step on it so I was trying to but that off for as long as possible. At least until it got bigger and was able to avoid being stepped on. A high pitched peeping sound coming from near my feet made me look down and I smiled at the little chick that was looking up at me.

"You know one of these days I am not going to see you and I really will step on you," I told the chick in a stern voice.

"Peep"

I laughed and bent down to pick it up. Holding it carefully in my hands I brought it level with my face. "You know, I still need to figure out a name for you," I told it.

"Peep"

I smiled putting the chick back on the ground gently. "Alright," I said, "Peep it is."

"Peep"

I laughed and taking one quick look at the ground in front of me I walked over to the feed dispenser. Seeing the full feed dispenser reminded me of the surprise visit that I had had yesterday. _I'll have to thank him, what did he say his name was…oh right Vaughn, the next time I see him,_ I though, scooping out a days worth of feed. Walking over to the feeder bin I spread the feed out on the ground and watched as Peep hurried over to eat. After making certain that everything was set I went outside to water my crops. After watering my crops I headed back to my house to get cleaned up. I had decided that I would try and see if Vaughn was still in town so that I could thank him as soon as possible. I had a tendency to forget things like this after a while and I didn't want to seem ungrateful or anything.

Before entering my house I kicked of my shoes to let the mud on them dry so it would come off easier. After entering I made a beeline for the bathroom. I could almost feel the warm water coursing over my skin getting rid of all the dirt and grime. I had learned early on that it saved a lot of time if I did all my farm work before I took a shower. After all it didn't really make sense to get all nice and clean just to go get dirty again. Removing my dirty clothes I threw them in the hamper right outside the bathroom door before stepping into the shower. Turning the water as warm as it would go I stood there for a minute letting the water just course over my body. I then quickly scrubbed all the dirt off my skin and washed my hair. Shutting off the water I stepped out of the shower and wrapped my towel around my body before walking over to my dresser. Rummaging through the drawers again I finally picked out a pair of light blue jean shorts and a blue and white print shirt. After throwing on my clothes and drying my hair I quickly pulled it up in a ponytail and headed out the door hoping to find Vaughn before it got too late.

As I made my way through town I realized that I had no idea where to start looking for Vaughn. I looked around town searching for silver hair and a black cowboy hat. I was still standing in the middle of town looking around when Julia came walking up to me.

"Hey Chelsea. Who are you looking for?"

"Vaughn actually," I said with a sheepish grin.

"Oh. Um, sorry to disappoint you but he went back to the mainland yesterday night. He only came here yesterday because my mom asked him to come so she could talk with him and finalize some business stuff." My disappointment must have shown on my face because she smiled at me before continuing. "But he'll be back on Wednesday. That's only six days away. But, um, If you don't mind me asking, what did you want with my cousin anyway?"

_COUSIN!?! _I shook my head thinking I had heard that wrong. Julia, and Vaughn were cousins? My shock must have shown on my face because she laughed.

"Yeah I know it's surprising right. But we really are cousins. Mom offered him a job transporting animals to the island and he accepted."

"Well I just wanted to thank him for brining the chicken feed to the farm yesterday, but if he's not here…"

"Well he will be back don't worry."

Giving her a small smile I turned back to head to my ranch.

"Oh Chelsea. Vaughn might be a little rough around the edges but he's a nice guy, so don't judge him to harshly okay."

I could feel my face start to heat up and I just nodded to her. I could hear her giggling as I made my very undignified retreat back to my house. _Well_, I thought to myself,_ THAT was embarrassing!_

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Well that's all for this chapter. Reviews are very much appreciated.


	3. Fight at the Beach

Sorry I've been away so long, starting college will do that to you =P hope you guys like this latest chapter.

The days seemed to fly by but that was probably because I spent the majority of my time holed up at the ranch clearing the field. I had gotten some more seeds from Chen's shop and had managed to completely clear the western half of the field and the eastern side was looking better and better every day. I was currently in the field planting my new seeds and didn't notice Natalie walking up the path to the ranch.

"So this is where you have been" a voice from behind me said. Putting down my hoe I turned and smiled at my friend.

"Hahaha where else would I have been" I replied glad for the break. I had been working since the morning and was glad I had a reason to stop and take a breather.

"I don't know but Gramps was starting to get worried since we haven't seen you around for a few days. But I came here wondering if you wanted to go swimming with Julia and me" Natalie said.

I took a quick look around the field taking in all I had left to do. There wasn't much, just one last corner of the field that needed clearing, and it wasn't like my crops needed a lot of attention right now anyway. I had already fed Peep and she was too young to be let outside so I really had nothing else to do for the day.

"Yeah sure I can come" I said with a smile gathering up my tools.

"Great!" she said before grabbing my arm and dragging me towards the house. I quickly put my tools away, changed into my swim suit and went outside letting Natalie continue to drag me down towards the beach. As we walked she talked about her brother and how I had missed his latest klutz attack. I nodded only half listening as we walked through town. Catching a glimpse of blonde hair I turned and waved at Julia as she hurried out of her house to join is. Seeing the animal shop made me remember that I still needed to thank Vaughn for bringing me the chicken feed. _Well at least I didn't forget_, I thought to myself. The walk to the beach was short, filled with Julia and Natalie talking about the latest island gossip. Not that there was much, I mean how much gossip can be generated from eight people right? As we neared the beach I noticed there was a boat tied to the dock I had never noticed before.

"Hey guys, what's with the boat?" I asked jumping into the conversation. Natalie and Julia turned and stared at me.

"Haven't you been paying attention? We have a new resident. He got here late last night" Julia said.

"If you weren't paying attention what were you thinking about? A boy?" Natalie asked with a sly grin.

I could feel my cheeks heat up slightly. Technically I **had** been thinking about a boy but not in the way she was implying. Shaking my head I sped up, slightly confused by my reaction. It wasn't like I had been thinking anything bad so why was I getting embarrassed? I suddenly noticed a guy sitting on the dock and wondered if it might be the new resident. Setting my towel down on the sand I left Julia and Natalie to set up their stuff. Walking out on the dock I noticed that the man was fishing, and stopped a little ways away from him. I wasn't sure if I should go introduce myself now or wait until later. I was saved from having to make the decision because at that moment he looked up and saw me his face lighting up with a smile.

"Hey" he said standing up slowly. "I don't think I've seen you before. My name's Denny I'm a fisherman" he said holding out a hand for me to shake. He still had a smile on his face and I had to admit he looked pretty cute. Shaking his hand I returned the smile.

"I'm Chelsea, the island's farmer. Nice to meet you Denny" I replied. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Natalie and Julia waving at me and decided I should probably head back before they got mad at me. "My friends and I are gonna go swimming if you would like to join us" I said as I turned to leave. He laughed and I found myself smiling at the sound. "I'd like to but I need to finish fishing. Maybe some other time though" he said before going back to his spot on the dock. I smiled to myself as I walked away, I had a feeling I would like getting to know this new person on the island.

After playing in the water for a little bit the three of us ended up lying on our towels talking about stuff going on around the island. It didn't take long for the topic to turn towards guys.

"I really wish more people would move to the island," Natalie complained.

"You just wish more **male** people would move to the island" I snickered, deftly avoiding the shoe thrown in my direction.

"Are you going to tell me you don't" she shot back. "I mean come on the only guy on this island is my brother."

"What's wrong with Elliot?" Julia asked suddenly, drawing both our attention to her.

"Well besides the fact that he's my brother, he's totally pathetic and a complete klutz" Natalie replied slowly. I could see her putting the pieces together and had to hold back a laugh as I watched Julia turn a nice shade of red.

"So Julia you have a thing for my baby brother huh" Natalie asked with a sly smile. At this point I couldn't contain my laughter any longer. Julia sent me a glare which just made me laugh harder.

"Well at least I don't have a thing for an anti-social someone" she quipped. You would be surprised how quickly that shut me up. I could feel my face start to heat up as Natalie turned her attention away from Julia and onto me.

"So you **were** thinking about a boy earlier! Who is it?!"

"I was not thinking about anyone! I was just-"

"Oh come on Chelsea you were looking for him remember" Julia said. I shot her a glare telling her to shut up.

"Well at least I don't have a thing for someone who still looks like a kid" I retorted sticking my tongue out at her.

"AHA so you DO have a thing for someone" Natalie shouted. Well damn I had just walked into that one hadn't I.

"No I-"

"WHO IS IT?!"

"Vaughn" Julia threw in laughing to herself. I felt my face heat up even more

"You have a thing for VAUGHN?!" Natalie screeched. "Since when?!"

Picking up her shoe I chucked it back at her. "I do not have a thing for Vaughn."

"That's good to know cause I don't get involved with children" a deep voice rumbled from behind me. I froze feeling heat rush to my face. Slowly I turned around to come face to face with the subject of our conversation. He had his hat pulled down shading most of his face but I could still see something of a smirk under the brim of his hat. Placing my hands on my hips I glared at him.

"I'm not a child, I will be twenty in summer" I seethed. There were very few things that annoyed me but being called a child had always been one of them. So I was cursed with a baby face so what.

"Really?" he responded haughtily "I had you pegged as just going on eighteen."

I'm not sure why but at that I just snapped. "Well at least I don't look like I'm eighty" I hissed at him. He glared at me, which I returned, before turning away and heading up the path towards town. As soon as he left I immediately began to feel bad.

"I should apologize huh" I said turning back around to Julia and Natalie. The two of them had been silent through the fight.

"Yeah though he should too" Julia replied looking after where her cousin had gone. I nodded slowly and started gathering my stuff.

"I need to go sorry" I said before dashing back to my house. Once there I quickly showered to wash the sand off and changed into clean clothes. Once I was presentable again I went outside determined to find Vaughn and apologize.

I spent the next few hours running around the island looking for him and before I knew it the sun was beginning to set and people were retiring to their houses. _Damn it this island is tiny where the heck could he be hiding_, I thought to myself growing more and more frustrated by the minute. Finally deciding to give up I head towards the beach to watch the sun set. It had always had a calming effect on me, though I really wasn't sure why. As I walked down to the beach I recognized a familiar shape leaning against a large boulder. _I would find him the instant I stop looking for him._ Walking over I stopped a little ways away unsure about what I should do.

"What do you want" he asked gruffly making me jump slightly. I hadn't thought he would notice me let alone acknowledge my presence. Making up my mind I walked over until I was standing even with him. I looked out over the water for a little bit watching the last rays of light dance along the surface.

"I think we got off on the wrong food and well…I just…wanted to say I was sorry about this afternoon," I said quietly looking at him out of the corner of my eye. When he didn't respond I decided to keep talking. "I didn't mean to go off on you like that, it's just…well it's stupid really I've always had a problem with people taking one look at me and deciding that I'm young and therefore can't take care of myself. I guess…well maybe you would understand huh?" I asked looking at him out of the corner of my eye. I thought I saw a slight nod so I decided I would keep talking. I figured if he got bored he would just walk away, but so long as he was here I would talk. Sitting down in the sand I continued watching the sun set.

"You know, you kinda remind me of my old dog" I said smiling up at him slightly. He rolled his eyes at me before turning away slightly but he didn't leave which made me smile again. "He was unique too. Pure bred German Shepherd but instead of being black and tan he was completely white. I think that's the reason I chose him, cause I knew he was special. He was so shy when we first brought him home but he slowly opened up to us. He was a good dog" I said smiling at my memories. I sat there not saying anything for a while before I heard him shift slightly.

"You're weird you know that" he mumbled looking out over the sea.

Grinning I stood up, brushing the sand off my pants. "Yeah I know, but that's part of what makes me interesting I guess." His only response was to pull the brim of his hat down farther over his face. Deciding to act on an impulse I stepped in front of him and quickly tipped his hat back so I could see his face. The shocked surprise in his eyes made me smile and I couldn't help but laugh slightly when he glared at me and shoved his had back down over his face.

Turning I walked away waving over my shoulder, "See you tomorrow Cowboy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Vaughn's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stood there watching her walk away stunned. On the one hand I was confused and slightly annoyed that she had decided to come down here and randomly start talking with me, I mean who the hell does that? I was also more than slightly annoyed that she had the gall to invade my personal space and treat me like we were close buddies. Though, I did have to admit I was slightly impressed with her. No one had ever had the nerve to treat me like that, and the first person who does ends up being a scrawny little girl. I felt a small smile forming on my lips and shook my head. God now I was smiling what next? This island was doing strange things to me. Pulling my hat down farther on my head I turned and walked back to the shop, slightly looking forward to what tomorrow had in store.

So what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Read and Review please =D


	4. I'd like to see you smile

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters (just realized I've been forgetting to include this lol my bad)

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The next day I awoke to the sound of rain pounding on my roof. Groaning I rolled over and looked at my clock, 6:00 am. Sitting up I looked out the window at the pouring rain. It was still dark out and the heavy rain didn't make me want to get out of bed any more than the early time. Sighing to myself I rolled out of bed and headed to the shower. I wasn't going to get any planting done today and the rain would take care of watering my crops so that was two tasks I didn't have to do today. After a quick shower I threw on a pair of jeans and a light blue top before heading to the door and grabbing my jacket. Walking outside I stood under the little overhang and watched the rain fall. I tugged my sweatshirt on over my head wishing I had something more…well water proof. My light sweatshirt was great for those cool mornings but I had a feeling it wouldn't be much help in heavy rain like this. Taking one last look at the rain I flipped my hood up over my head and made a run for my chicken coop.

Throwing the door of the coop open I bolted in, quickly shutting the door before my single chicken could find a way to sneak past me into the rain. The last thing I wanted to do was run around my farm in the pouring rain trying to catch her. Flipping my hood down I quickly shook my hair out laughing to myself. I had been right about my sweatshirt not being much of a help. In all of the thirty seconds it had taken me to run to the chicken coop I had gotten soaked, and my sweatshirt now hung heavy with water.

"Next stop after this is too Chen's to order a proper coat," I muttered to myself walking over to the feed dispenser. Scooping out a day's worth of feed I walked over to the feed bin and scattered the food on the ground. I waited a few seconds for Peep to appear and peck at the food and when she didn't I scanned the small coop worriedly. Seeing her huddled in a corner I quickly walked over and knelt beside her. When that didn't get a reaction I carefully picked her up and held her to my chest gently.

"peep" she peeped quietly.

"Poor girl," I murmured carrying her over to where I had placed the food down. I gently set her back on the ground and watched as she listlessly started pecking at the food.

"Alright, first stop Mirabelle's then Chen's," I said walking to the door. Slowly opening the door I looked back at my chick who was just standing by the food. Mind made up I quickly stepped outside and made a run for town.

As I opened the door to the animal shop both Julia and her mother looked up as I entered. I laughed slightly at the shocked looks on their faces. Shrugging my shoulders I pointed outside with a slight grin.

"Chelsea what on earth?" Julia started, coming around from behind the counter.

"It's raining," I said trying to wring out my hair.

"Obviously" A gruff voice said from the table in the middle of the room. Shooting Vaughn a glare I decided to ignore him. I turned back to Mirabelle and Julia.

"Actually I came here to ask about my chick. I think she might be sick," I stated worriedly.

"Oh dear, what seems to be wrong with her?" Mirabelle asked a look of concern coming to her face. I quickly described what I had seen at the barn this morning and felt close to tears by the time I had finished. I stood in the doorway waiting for someone to say something.

"Vaughn, why don't you go up to the ranch and take a look at the chick," Mirabelle said, turning to the man sitting at the table. I expected him to say no and tell me I had to deal with it myself but he surprised me by nodding and getting up from the table.

"Wait here," he said before disappearing into one of the back rooms. He came out a moment later pulling his jacket on and quietly walked past me. Giving Julia and Mirabelle one last anxious look I turned and followed him out the door.

The walk to my ranch was silent the only real sound coming from the falling rain. I was too worried about my chick to talk and my companion…well it's Vaughn I wasn't expecting him to fill the silence. _Too bad though cause he's got a sexy voice_. I blushed at that thought quickly ducking my head to keep my face from view. Where the hell had that come from? I was grateful that we had finally reached the chicken coop and I could push my thoughts aside. I watched as Vaughn slowly walked over to Peep before gently picking her up. I stayed quiet as he looked her over absent mindedly wringing water out of the sleeves of my sweatshirt.

"She looks fine," he said, gently putting Peep back on the ground and standing up.

"But…she's been acting weird all morning," I said looking down at my little chick.

"It's probably because of the weather," he said walking back over to the door. He opened the door and I followed him back outside. We walked silently back to my house where I stopped under the overhang. Turning to him I gave him a smile. His only response was to pull his hat down which made me laugh. Giving me a small nod he turned to go and once again I decided to act on an impulse, I mean it had worked last time right? Running out in front of him I gave him another smile at his shocked expression.

"Thank you," I said holding out my hand. He looked down at it then back up at me.

"You really are weird," he mumbled before slowly accepting the handshake. I laughed before letting go of his hand and stepping aside.

"Maybe, but it's what makes me interesting remember?" I said with a grin. He smirked before pulling his hat back down and walking past me. I stood out in the rain grinning like a fool as I watched him walk back towards town. Giving his retreating from one last glance I turned and headed back into my house looking forward to getting out of my wet clothes and a nice hot shower.

Several hours later I was happy to notice that the rain had all but stopped and I decided that instead of cooking dinner I would go check out the dinner in East Town. It had opened a few days ago and I was curious to see if the food there was any good. Pulling on another sweatshirt, I really did need to go to Chen's and order a decent coat, I tugged on my shoes before heading out the door.

Walking through town I let a small smile form. I had always loved the way the air smells after a good hard shower, everything was so clean. As I crossed the small bridge into East Town I noticed a familiar figure pacing back and forth along a row of bushes. _I wonder what's wrong_. Walking towards Vaughn I heard him muttering to himself.

"Damn it I know I had it around here somewhere where did it go?"

"Lose something?" I asked coming to a stop behind him. He whirled around a startled expression on his face for a split second before being replaced by his normal distant expression.

"What makes you think that?" he asked.

"Well you were talking to yourself saying you lost something so I figured you had," I responded looking at him. He remained silent for a few seconds before shaking his head with a sigh.

"Not that it's any of your business but I lost some of my tools," he replied pinching the bridge of his nose. I gave the ground a quick scan before looking back up at him.

"Want help looking for them?" I asked. He gave me a calculating look before sighing again.

"If you want to help I haven't checked over there yet," he said gruffly pointing towards some bushes off to the left. Nodding I walked in the direction and started looking for anything out of the ordinary since he hadn't exactly told me what I was looking for. After several minutes of searching I noticed a patch of black poking out from under one of the bushes. Bending down to get a closer look I noticed that the patch was actually a black leather pouch. Picking it up I walked back over to Vaughn.

"This it?" I asked holding the pouch out to him. He turned and a look of relief passed over his face briefly.

"Yeah that's it," he mumble carefully taking the pouch from me. I smiled glad I had been able to help. Giving him a nod I turned back in the direction of the Dinner.

"Wait…" Turning back around I gave him a questioning look.

"Why did you ask to help me," he asked looking down at the ground. His hat covered his face so I couldn't tell what kind of expression he had on.

"Cause that's what friends do," I replied giving him a smile. He looked up at me a look of surprise on his face.

"Thanks," he said a small smile visible on his face before he pulled his hat down. I stood awe struck at what had just happened. _He's kinda cute when he smiles_, I thought starting to smile myself.

"Hey, I'm heading to the Dinner do you want to come?" I asked nodding my head in the direction of the building. He seemed surprised I would ask something like that. He seemed to consider it before giving me a slight nod. Grinning I turned and headed off to the Dinner hearing him follow behind me.

We entered the Dinner and quickly gave our orders. As we sat at the table he sat across from me looking at me like I was some sort of puzzle he hadn't quite figured out yet. I tried to ignore it by looking around the Dinner. Finally I couldn't take it anymore.

"Yes?" I asked, fed up with the contemplative look I had been receiving for the past ten minutes.

"I don't get you," he responded resting his hands on the table. I gave him a confused look hoping he would clarify.

"Normally people stay away from me, don't talk to me unless they need to," he continued. "But you" he pointed a finger at me, "you always seem to come up with some reason to try and talk to me. Why?" I stared at him completely in shock. I think that was the most I had ever heard him say at a single time.

"Well, I guess that's because I want to get to know you better, you know try and become your friend," I said looking over his shoulder slightly. He gave me a skeptical look, and I nodded giving him another smile. "It's true."

"You really are weird" he mumbled more to himself than to me. I was about to respond but at that point our food came and I decided to let it go. We ate in silence and when we were done we both headed to the door. Standing outside I turned towards my companion.

"Thanks for coming with me," I said another smile playing at my lips.

"Why are you always doing that," he asked surprising me.

"Doing what?"

"Smiling," he replied gruffly. I shrugged my shoulders and looked up at the sky.

"Not sure. I never really thought about it. I guess I just do it because I'm happy and I want to share my happiness with other people." He gave me a look that said he didn't by my reason before turning and heading back towards town.

"Why don't you smile," I asked stopping him. He turned to look at me giving a slight shrug.

"Not necessary for my job," he replied gruffly.

"I think you should smile more," I said softly looking down at the ground. I was thankful that it was getting dark so my blush would be harder to see. I looked up slightly to see him giving me a quizzical expression.

"Come on give it a try," I said suddenly surprising both of us. He narrowed his eyes at me slightly crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why should I it's not like I'm going to need to ever need to know how to smile," he retorted sharply.

"I'd like to see you smile," I replied surprising myself again. As soon as the words were out I felt my face heat up and knew I could probably rival a tomato in color. I saw I wasn't the only one who was surprised. Vaughn's eyes widened slightly, and I thought I saw a small hint of color appear on his face.

"Uh but you know that's just me and I'm weird so just forget that," I said hurriedly looking for some way to take back what I had just said. I shot a glance up at the sky hoping a means of escape would magically appear in front of me. Noticing the dark clouds in the sky I formulated a quick excuse.

"Oh wow it looks like it's gonna start raining soon so, uh, I had better get going now…so um bye," I said before turning around ready to run back to my house and never come out again.

"Chelsea, um…thank you," his soft response came causing me to freeze and look over my shoulder. He had a small smile on his face and once again I was struck with how good looking he was when he decided to smile. Feeling my heart speed up at that thought I gave him a quick nod before running back to my house.

* * *

So what do you guys think? Still worth reading? Please let me know :D


	5. A Favor

I was glad it was Friday and Vaughn had left for the week. After yesterday I wasn't quite sure how I was going to be around him without turning bright red. Trying to distract myself I threw myself into my work, clearing the rest of the field and planting crops. I took care of my chicken and decided it was about time I asked Gannon to build me a dairy barn. Mind made up I hurriedly cleaned up and headed into town.

Walking through town I said hi to people as I passed by and before I knew it I was standing outside Gannon's shop. Slowly I pushed open the door and walked inside.

"G'morning Chelsea something I can do for you?" Gannon asked as I walked in.

"Yeah I was wondering if you could build me a dairy barn," I said leaning against the counter.

"Sure I should have it done by tomorrow," he said as I paid him. Giving him a smile I walked out the side heading back towards my ranch. As I walked through town I decided to make a detour to the animal shop. Opening the door I heard the bell jingle and Julia walked out from the back room.

"Hi Chelsea what can I do for you," she asked giving me a smile.

"Hi Julia," I replied sitting at the counter. "I was just wondering if you could give me some advice on raising cows."

"Oh, well you have to brush them and when you get older they have to be milked every day," she said. "But Vaughn could tell you more about them." At the mention of his name I could feel my face start to heat up a little bit. I quickly looked down hoping that she wouldn't notice. I didn't happen to be that lucky.

"Something wrong Chelsea?" she asked a sly smile on her face. "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with yesterday would it?" I looked up quickly wondering how she had found out about that. My surprise must have shown on my face because she laughed.

"Vaughn came in yesterday night blushing and locked himself in his room before I could question him about it," she said leaning against the counter. I was more than a little surprised that our encounter yesterday had seemed to faze him as well. It made me feel a little bit better about being embarrassed myself.

"So what happened?" she asked an eager look on her face.

"What makes you think it had to do with me?" I retorted hoping she would let it go.

"Well, I am really only guessing but…he is different when he is around you. Not quite happy but, I don't know, not as surly I guess." This news surprised me and I felt myself smiling.

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" she prodded.

"I told him I would like to see him smile more," I responded getting up from the counter. She opened her mouth to ask a question but I stopped her. "Really that's all that happened I promise." Turning I walked to the door and stepped outside. I smiled heading back to my ranch.

The next morning Gannon came to my ranch and informed me that he had finished work on my dairy barn. Thanking him I walked out to inspect the work, knowing it would be excellent and was met by Taro leading a small calf. After getting the calf settled in its new home he gave me some basic pointers and returned home. I decided that I should go by another calf. I had the money to afford one and I didn't want the newest addition to my farm to feel lonely. It wasn't long before I was walking back from Mirabelle's shop leading my second calf. As I lead her into the barn I watched the two young cows get acquainted. I watched them greet each other leaning against the barn wall. I needed to think of names for them. I noticed the calf Taro had given me had a patch of black that covered almost half of her face. Smiling to myself I decided to call her Patches. Not a very original name but it would do. Looking at the calf I had recently bought I tried to think of a name for her. I looked her over not noticing any distinctive markings I could base my name off of. My two calves seemed to notice my attention on them and came hobbling over to see me. I smiled at them scratching the middle of their foreheads. "Guess I will have to think of a name for you later little on," I said giving both of them a last pat. They mooed quietly at me before wandering off to investigate their new home. I left the barn making sure I locked the door securely behind me. Staring at me field I looked at the unused space. I couldn't possible plant all of it, but maybe I should build a small paddock for my animals. I vaguely remembered hearing that my animals could go outside when they were a little older, and summer was coming up so the weather should be good. Mind made up I decided to start my new project. I had collected a lot of lumber from clearing the field so I had enough to get a fair bit done now. Going and collecting as much of the wood as I could I started building my paddock. I worked until the sun started going down and was fairly happy with my work. It would still take a few days to complete but I had gotten the bottom part of the paddock put together. Returning to my house I collapsed on my bed and was asleep in a matter of moments.

The days passed by quickly with me doing pretty much the same thing every day. Some people might complain about the monotony of it all but I rather liked my routine. Every morning I would wake up and head outside to take care of my animals. I'd brush my cows and place a piece of fodder in each of the feed bins before going and taking care of my chicken. She was growing fast and I was expecting her to start laying eggs soon. After taking care of the animals I would head out to take care of my crops. I'd do a quick once over of the field, pulling up any of those annoying weeds if I saw them, then water my crops. Several of them looked like they were about ready to be harvested and I was excited to see how they would turn out. After everything on my farm was done I would spend several hours working on the paddock. I was starting to get low on wood so I would occasionally take a break from working and head down into town and see if I could find any wood that was usable. I'd sometimes stop and chat with the people in town, talk about the weather and how things on the farm were going. Taro seemed to be pleased with how things were going saying that soon enough I would have the town revitalized. Most of the time I would just smile and nod saying that I was working on it. I had already decided that the next big project for me was to get the money to construct the bridge to the Forest. I was making headway but it would take a good harvest to get me closer to my goal.

I finally finished my paddock on Wednesday and decided that the calves could use some time outside. I had walked into the barn the other day and had almost gotten trampled by the two of them running around. The weather was good too, not to hot but not cold either. Taking one of the ropes hanging on the wall I looped it around Patches neck and gently lead her to the door. The other calf followed us and I had to carefully maneuver so that Patches ended up outside and she remained inside.

"Don't worry sweetie I'll be right back for you," I said as I shut the door. I gently lead Patches over to the gate I had constructed and let her into the paddock. She stood there looking confused at being separated from her friend. Shutting the gate I headed back to the barn. I wasn't ready for the eagerness of the second calf to get outside and be back with her friend and before I knew what was happening a black and white body pushed past me and trotted over to the gate. I quickly followed her and let her in with her friend. I smiled as I watched the two small cows greet each other and amble off to explore their new enclosure. I climbed up on the fence and watched them walk around investigating everything. After they had been around the area once they started playing and I smiled as I watched them run around with one another.

"You know they really shouldn't be outside until they are a little older," a deep voice came from my side startling me. I looked to my left to see a very familiar profile. Vaughn was leaning against the fence slightly watching the calves playing. I was surprised he was here I hadn't noticed him at all. I gave a small shrug and went back to watching my animals.

"Yeah Taro told me they could be left outside once they were fully grown but I figured that it wouldn't hurt to let them outside if the weather was okay. They have too much energy to be kept inside all the time," I said looking at him. To my surprise he nodded a small smile on his lips.

"Yeah they're pretty energetic when they're young, all animals are," he replied still watching the two forms chasing each other. "What are their names?" he asked softly looking at me from the corner of his eye.

"Well that one with the black patch on her face is Patches," I replied. He grunted and rolled his eyes. "I know it's not very imaginative but it suits her," I said defensively. He nodded slightly waiting for me to name the other one. I fidgeted slightly.

"The other one…well I haven't been able to think of a good name for her yet," I admitted sheepishly my face heating up slightly. Vaughn smirked then pointed to the unnamed calf.

"She's eating a daisy how about that?" he said in a joking tone. I thought about sticking my tongue out at him behind his back. But that would be childish right? So I decided to take a more…adult course of action. Hopping of the fence I walked over to my unnamed calf and said rather loudly, "So what do you think of the name Daisy, little one?" I shot Vaughn a glance out of the corner of my eye. He was scowling at me slightly which made me laugh. Daisy mooed and rubbed her head on my shirt before going back to eating. Grinning I walked back over to the fence.

"She seems to like the name," I said laughing at the look he gave me.

"So what brings you up here?" I asked as I walked back over to where he stood. I leaned back against the fence watching Patches and the newly named Daisy amble about their new field. He fidgeted with the brim of his hat pulling it down slightly and I laughed silently to myself. _Ah the cowboy is embarrassed_, I thought to myself. I had noticed during our meetings he had a habit of playing with his hat when thrown into an embarrassing situation.

"Heard you had gotten a few calves and figured I should check and see that you were raising them properly," he replied gruffly. I scowled slightly at this. I had never given him any prior indication that I didn't know how to take care of my animals before so I was slightly miffed that he would assume I would neglect them.

"Oh is that all? And here I was thinking you came because you missed my pleasant company," I retorted not even trying to disguise the sarcasm in my voice. When he didn't say anything more I shrugged slightly and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Turning back to face him I watched him fidget with his hat some more and I felt curiosity bubble up. Leaning back against the fence I smirked slightly as I watched him squirm.

"Aw come on Vaughn what's up? Seems like you have something important to ask me," I said a grin growing on my face. After his shot at my ability to raise my animals properly I decided it was okay for me to mess with the solemn cowboy. After all it couldn't be healthy for someone to be that serious all the time. My grin grew as I watched a light blush rise on his cheeks and if he had pulled his hat down any farther it probably would have fallen off his head all together.

"Well, uh, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor," he murmured looking away from me. Giving him a confused look I waited for him to elaborate. When he showed no sign of continuing I decided to prod him along.

"What you want me to set you up with Natalie or something? I can try but I'm not sure surly cowboys are her type," I said laughing slightly. He whipped around to face me an incredulous look on his face.

"Why the hell would I want you to do that?" he all but shouted making my calves look up from the grass and amble over to make sure everything was okay. I shrugged at him before turning and giving each of them a reassuring pat.

"I don't know but you don't seem to want to tell me what it is you want so I figured I might as well guess."

"Well it's not that," he replied gruffly scowling at me. Pushing his hat up slightly he gave me a slow, calculating look. "What would you say to owning a horse?"

I stared at him my mouth slightly agape. A horse? Was the man insane? I had just started this farm and had a chicken and two cows to take care of, which I was already having some problems with, and he thought I wanted a horse?

"What kind of horse are we talking here?" I asked calmly surprising myself and apparently him as well.

"Well he's young just over two years old. My friend on the mainland is looking for a home for him and I thought maybe you'd be willing to take him."

"And your friend wants to get rid of him why exactly?" I asked giving him a skeptical look. I watched him start to reach for his hat before lowering his hand back to his side.

"Well he's…a handful apparently. He's also growing to be a little bigger than my friend expected and is proving to be…difficult to train." He saw the look of disbelief on my face and pressed onward. "I've met him and he doesn't seem to be that difficult to handle he just needs a gentle touch. He's young and sure of himself and incredibly smart and I think he has a lot of potential. I would be here to help with his training and could help take care of him if you'd like," he finished quietly. He stood there waiting for me to respond. I thought about it for a few seconds weighing my options. I looked around my farm slowly taking in how much work still needed to be done. Could I really afford another project? I turned back to Vaughn and heaved a sigh. I had never been able to say no when it came to helping an animal and it didn't look like I was going to start today.

"If I agree to do this then you agree to help me here whenever you don't have work to do," I stated holding his gaze. If I was taking on yet another project it only seemed fair to get some free labor out of it.

"Deal," he replied quickly before tugging his hat down his face. He turned to head back to town and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey Cowboy," I called watching him turn around to face me. "One of these days you're gonna show me that smile without your hat covering it." He scowled at me, which only made me laugh again, before turning abruptly and heading down the path to town.

"Well," I said turning back to my two cows, "guess I should go talk to Gannon about getting the stable fixed up." Grabbing the rope I looped it loosely around Daisy's neck before opening the gate. I had a moment of panic as not one but two small bodies pushed their way through but as I lead Daisy back to the barn Patches followed determined not to be left behind. As soon as my cows were back in their barn I turned and after washing up quickly went to go see Gannon about the stable.


	6. Could you take a dog?

Hi it's been a while since my last update. I'm on break from school so I am going to try and update a few more chapters before I go back. This story is becoming a much longer project than I originally intended lol. I hope everyone enjoys this latest chapter. If you like it please review at the end =) I love constructive criticism and any suggestions that people want to see. Enjoy!

I was greeted the next morning by the sound of rain pounding on my roof. Groaning I pulled the covers over my head. The last thing I wanted to do right now was to go outside in the rain and do chores. I allowed myself another minute in the comforting warmth of my bed before kicking off the covers and getting dressed.

"I really need to go buy a decent coat," I grumbled to myself as I once again pulled on a light sweatshirt that was going to be as helpful in this rain as a hand towel. Opening the door I ran across my field and into the dairy barn startling Daisy and Patches. I laughed as my cows gave me anxious looks.

"Sorry girls I didn't mean to frighten you," I said as I walked over to the feed bin and pulled out two chunks of fodder. Placing the food in the feed bin I waited until they started eating before giving both a quick brushing. Finished with my cows I headed next door to check on my single chicken. Entering the coop I was shocked to see that Peep had laid her first egg. Picking it up I carefully put it in my bag. "I'll have to show Taro when I go into town," I told her as I spread out some feed on the ground. Exiting the chicken coop I walked over to the stable to see what improvements Gannon had made to it.

The inside of the stable was well lit and the open space that had originally made up the interior had been converted into two large box stalls. In one corner there were some pegs and shelves, as well as a bin for storing feed. Satisfied that the stable was fit for the new member of my family I headed back across the field, taking my time since I was already soaked and pulling up any stray weeds I happened to come across. My crops weren't ready to be harvested just yet and the heavy rain was going to take care of watering them so most of my chores for the day were done already. _And it's not even ten in the morning yet_ I thought happily to myself. Walking down the path to town I grimaced at the huge puddles forming in the road. I had asked Gannon to help repave the roads in town but I had put off the road leading to the farm because it didn't seem that important. By the time I had stepped in my fourth puddle I knew I would be talking to Gannon about fixing the road the next time I saw him. Heading over to Taro's house I knocked and reached into my pocket to pull out my first egg. As soon as the door opened I held it out triumphantly.

"Look Peep laid her first egg," I said excitedly. I almost dropped it at the shocked look on Taro's face.

"Chelsea what on earth!? Why don't you have a jacket on, you're going to catch your death in this rain!" Taro scolded me pulling me inside. I grinned sheepishly as Natalie and Eliot gave me surprised looks.

"I'm sorry Taro I just haven't gotten a chance to get a real jacket yet, I'm going to Chen's today and ordering one though," I promised. "But until then, what do I do with this?" I asked bringing my egg up to show Taro again. I felt a rush of triumph as his face broke out in a smile. Gently I let him take the egg from me so he could examine it.

"Hmmm not bad, a little small, but not bad for the first egg. Don't worry about a thing, we can ship farm produce like this along with your crops all you need to do is put them in the shipping bins. I'll take care of this one for you don't you worry. Now you need to go order that jacket and get out of those wet clothes." I was gently ushered back outside assuring Taro that I would go to Chen's before heading back up to the farm. Shaking my head as the door closed behind me I started off across the street to Mirabelle's. I wanted to tell Vaughn that the stable was ready. Standing outside the door I attempted to wring some of the water from my hair and sweatshirt before walking inside. The bell overhead jingled drawing Julia from the back room. She took one look at me and shook her head.

"You know, if this is going to become a regular behavior of yours Chelsea I'm going to have to start keeping towels behind the counter for you," she teased. Laughing I pulled off my soaked sweatshirt and held it out to her. She took it and walked into the back room. I heard the faint hum of the dryer starting up.

"Hey Julia, is Vaughn here?" I called, wringing my hair out slightly.

"Yes, and you're in the way," rumbled a deep voice behind me. Whirling around I found myself face to face with the very person I had been looking for.

-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-``-`-`-`-`-`-`-``-`-`-`-`-`-` Vaughn's POV -`-`-`-`-`-`-`-``-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`

I stood in the doorway looking at the girl in front of me. It was raining again and I could see from the puddle forming around her feet and her wet clothes that she had gone outside without a jacket again. Her shirt clung to her body and not for the first time I was struck with just how small she really was. I had to grudgingly admire how someone such as her could take on the job of running a farm by herself. Walking past her I hung up my jacket to dry and pulled off my hat. Running a hand through my hair I shot her a look over my shoulder.

"You need me for something?" I asked placing my hat back on my head.

"Yeah, I just wanted to come by and let you know that I had Gannon fix up the stable and I think it looks pretty good. You can come by later and look at it if you want," she said, walking over to sit at the table.

"Chelsea it's going to be a little while before you're sweatshirt is dry. Oh, Vaughn, good timing mom wanted to talk to you about something, she's out back in the stables."

Nodding to my cousin I headed towards the back door leaving the two girls to talk about…well whatever it was that girls talked about. Walking through the stables I found my aunt sitting by the phone, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Julia told me you were looking for me."

"Oh, yes. Actually I have a question for you. You seem to know Chelsea pretty well, and I was wondering…well what do you think she would say if I asked her to take a dog?" I shrugged not knowing what to say.

"I don't know, I think if you asked she'd say yes. What kind of dog are we talking here?" I asked curiously. I didn't think Chelsea was the type to cart around a small dog, and she already had a lot of responsibilities on the farm. I felt a small pang of guilt at that thought. I mean, hadn't I asked her yesterday to take on more responsibilities? Hell when she had said yes to my request yesterday I had been too shocked to say anything besides a brief thank you.

"A friend of mine on the main land has a dog that just had puppies. The puppies aren't purebreds but the mom and dad are both large dogs so the puppies should be on the larger side as well. Do you think she would want a puppy? It could come in handy on the farm, dogs can be quite protective of livestock and such," she said looking up from the paper on her desk. "Do you think you could ask her for me? I have a feeling if you ask she won't be able to say no." Hearing the teasing note in her voice my face flushed. Reaching up I pulled my hat down farther and shrugged.

"I don't know about that Mirabelle. I don't really know her that well, what makes you think she'd agree if I asked?" I grumbled, being careful not to look at my aunt. The woman had an uncanny ability of taking one look at someone and seeing their deepest secrets. It wasn't that Chelsea and I had gotten to be best buddies, but I respected her and she had shown an aptitude for animals which made me trust and like her. That was the entire reason I had gone to her first yesterday. I had absolute faith that the colt would be taken care of, and I'd be there to help out and ensure proper treatment was being provided. I knew if I asked about the puppy Chelsea would say yes, she seemed to have a soft spot for strays. Shaking my head slightly I turned to head back inside.

"I have to go up to her farm today anyway to check out the barn. If I think it's an okay place for a puppy I'll ask her about it," I said turning back to look at my aunt. She gave me a small smile then went back to shuffling through her paper work. Sighing I pulled my hat down a little farther and walked into the house. The chattering of female voices immediately greeted me and I shook my head. Girls and their ability to talk about the silliest things. Shooting a glance out the window I noticed it was still raining outside. Leaving the girls to their gossip I headed back to my room and looked in my closet. Pulling out a jacket I looked it over once for any obvious holes. It had been years since I had been able to fit in the thing and I wasn't sure why I still had it. Deciding it was still in decent shape I headed back into the kitchen. Walking over to the table I dropped the jacket on Chelsea, taking a small amount of satisfaction at the surprised noise she made.

"What the hell is this?" I heard her yell at me as she attempted to find her way out of the jacket engulfing her. Laughing inwardly over how ridiculous she was going to look in my jacket I walked over to where I had hung my coat up.

"A jacket, thought I understand you're confusion as you've obviously never seen one before," I replied pulling on my coat not looking at her.

"And why exactly would I need one of these?" she asked, finally managing to pull to jacket off her head.

"'Cause I'm headed up to look at that new stable of yours and I figured you'd want to come make sure everything is all right." I didn't give her time to reply before walking out the door and making my way down the street. It didn't take long before I heard the door open and hurried footsteps coming after me.

"Hey! Vaughn, wait up! You grouchy, inconsiderate, insufferable cowboy!" I smiled slightly, the little girl was getting more creative with her nicknames. I continued to walk up the path just slightly ahead of her. I figured that if I slowed down enough to let her walk side by side with me she'd rip into me for taking off without waiting for her. This way she had to focus on where I was going and couldn't yell at me…much. Before long we reached the farm and spotting the new building I started heading towards it. At this point I did slow down just enough to allow Chelsea to catch up and heard her grumbling under her breath. Listening to her I felt a small smile starting. I had to hand it to her, the girl was quite creative in her use of some very colorful words. Reaching the door to the stable I pulled it open and waited for her to walk in before me. The inside of the barn was clean and spacious and more than suitable for a young horse. Walking over to one of the stalls I pulled open the door and looked inside. The stall was large, with enough room for a horse to move around and lay down comfortably in. Nodding to myself I closed the stall door and turned around to see Chelsea leaning against a wall watching me.

"So, how's it look? I was impressed Gannon really pulled out all the stops on this remodel. The stalls even have automatic water troughs. I haven't turned them on yet but I'm willing to bet that Gannon hooked them up to the well. That man is a miracle worker"

"Yeah, everything looks great," I replied tugging on the brim of my hat. I cursed inwardly as she gave me that knowing look. _This girl's too perceptive for her own good._

"So what's on your mind Cowboy?" I scowled at the grin she flashed me before pulling the brim of my hat down farther.

"Mirabelle wanted me to ask if you'd consider taking in a puppy," I rushed, embarrassed that this girl knew how to read me so well. "A friend of hers has a dog that just had puppies and they need homes. They should be big dogs when they grow up and a dog might come in handy around the farm…" I bit back a curse, I was rambling. I never ramble, and yet here I was rambling to this little slip of a girl.

"I don't know…I mean I would love to have a dog but I already have so much to take care of with the farm…"

"That's fine, I'll just tell Mirabelle you can't help." I shrugged and turned to walk out of the barn. I headed towards the small ranch house, Chelsea behind me. I slowed down slightly to let her catch up and felt a pang in my chest when she slowed down to stay slightly behind me. _What the hell was that? It's not like I care where she walks_ I thought to myself. I turned when I reached the house and felt another pang in my chest. My old jacket practically swallowed her. The sleeves were too long, and it hung loose around her shoulders, and it fell well past her waist. She had a contemplative look on her face and I thought I saw her give the smallest nod as she stopped in front of me.

"I decided. I'll take a puppy. The house gets lonely at night, and you're right a dog could be useful around the farm." She smiled at me and I felt one tug at my lips. I tugged the brim of my hat down and nodded.

"I'm bringing the colt over the next time I come to the island, I'll pick up a puppy for you too" I replied turning to leave.

"Wait! Your jacket-"

"Keep it," I shouted over my shoulder. I didn't contemplate the implications behind that gesture as I quickly made my way back to town.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Chelsea's POV _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

I watched Vaughn walk down the path to town and pulled the jacket tighter around me. I was surrounded by the faint smell of leather and soap and it made me blush slightly. _I'll have to return this to him the next time I see him_ I thought to myself as I played with the sleeves. _And next week there'll be two new members of this ever growing family_. I shook my head with a smile before heading inside to get warm.


	7. New family members

Wow so much writing, two chapters in the same month lol. I'm going to try and get at least one more in before I go back to school. If there is anything you would like to see let me know and I might work it in =) Also, I know this started out with the Heart Events but there are probably going to be some more filler chapters to get to the final event, I don't feel like these two are close enough yet lol. Anyway, if you like it review and let me know =)

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Chelsea's POV _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The sun was shining brightly as I walked outside but it couldn't hide the faint chill in the air that signaled that fall was quickly approaching. I pulled my sweatshirt over my head as I headed out across my field. The week had flown by as I waited for Vaughn to return to the island and it was already Wednesday morning. My farm had kept me busy planting and harvesting crops as well as caring for my animals and it had been a few days since I had been into town. My calves seemed to be getting bigger every day and Taro was sure that they were going to start producing milk soon. I was excited that I would soon have more produce to ship. There were still so many improvements I wanted to make around town and they all required funds that I couldn't seem to make. I had just walked into my dairy barn when Julia burst in startling both me and my cows.

"The boat's here! Come on let's go down and see what your cowboy brought you" she said grabbing my arm. I laughed and gently shook myself free.

"I can't yet I haven't finished my chores yet. And he's not **my** cowboy," I said turning to hide my blush.

"Oh the chores can wait can't they?"

"No they have to be done before I go down," I said with a shake of my head "If you want to help, run next door and feed Peep and collect her egg. I'll drop it off on the way down."

"Okay I'll be back in a minute." I chuckled to myself as she ran out the door. "She's more excited about this than I am" I said to the girls. I tossed two flakes of fodder into the feed bin before walking outside. I had just stepped outside when Julia came running out of the chicken coop and grabbed onto my arm again.

"Peep's been fed, here's the egg," she said holding up a small white egg. "Come on let's go!" I laughed as I let her drag me across my field towards the house. We dropped off the egg in the shipping bin before she continued to drag me down the path. By the time we got to town we were running and I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. We were greeted by Mirabelle and Taro when we got to the docks along with Denny, Elliot, and Natalie. I saw Julia glance at Elliot and I grinned.

"You should talk to him," I whispered to her as we walked over to Natalie. I laughed as she shot him another glance then looked away blushing. As soon as we reached her Natalie latched onto my other arm.

"So I hear that your cowboy is bringing you presents," she said with a smirk. I blushed and shook my head.

"First off, he's not **my** cowboy, I don't know where you two got that idea. Second, they aren't presents they are animals that are going to earn their keep on the farm. I can't afford for them to be anything else," I replied looking towards the boat. I was a little nervous and excited. This wouldn't be the first puppy I had trained and raised but it would be the first horse. And I had to admit, I was a little happy that Vaughn would be around the farm more. Not that I was going to share **that** bit of information with these two. I stood and listened to them chatter away, staring at the boat. Suddenly a whiney came from the inside of the ship silencing everyone. I held my breath as Vaughn emerged from the lower level followed by one of the most beautiful animals I had ever seen. I heard Julia's swift intake of breath and Natalie let out a low whistle but my eyes were glued to the man and animal walking down the ramp. The horse had a coat of polished gold with white on all four of his legs and a mane and tail of white. I could see Vaughn talking to the animal softly as it paused and looked around at everything. I watched as its ears flicked back and forth, listening to Vaughn and taking in the people and surroundings. As they walked closer I heard Julia and Natalie start to giggle. I shot them a look and Natalie just pointed back towards the horse. I stared, confused, until it turned its head the other direction. I promptly blushed at what I saw. There on the side of the halter was a bright red bow.

"What did we tell ya," Natalie snickered "Your cowboy brought you a present!" I glared at her hoping she would get the hint and shut up. When she just laughed harder I shook my head and slowly made my way over to where Vaughn and the horse were on the beach. I walked slowly, making sure both of them could see me before I stopped slightly in front of them. I shot Vaughn a small smile as I stood there, unsure of what I should do.

"Hold your hand out and let him sniff you," he said, bringing the horse closer. I stood there for a moment before slowly extending my hand. I suppressed a giggle as I felt a soft whoosh of breath and brush of whiskers. I felt my heart swell as the horse slowly pressed his muzzle into my hand then moved to nuzzle at my shirt. I beamed at Vaughn between the golden ears flicking near my face.

"He's beautiful, what's his name?" I started absently petting the golden neck.

"He doesn't have one. And you better promise me you won't name him Goldie or I'm taking him right back onto the boat."

"I won't I promise. Come on, let's get him up to the farm. We can let him into the paddock and let him look everything over," I said. I started to turn away before a hand gently grabbed my sweatshirt sleeve.

"He's yours you should walk him up," Vaughn said motioning to the rope attached to the halter. I stood there staring at him.

"I don't know how though. What if something happens and he gets hurt, or someone else gets hurt…no I can't you should walk him up," I replied slowly putting space between myself and the horse.

"You have to learn sometime no better time than the present," Vaughn replied grabbing my hand and tugging me towards him. I felt my face heat up at the contact and let myself be pulled over. I felt him take my hands and gently wrap them around the rope, one up near the halter and one down lower.

"There, hold on like that and just walk. I'll be here nothing will happen. He'll follow you and if he needs to look at something just stop and let him look." I could almost feel his deep, rumbling voice as he talked to me and I gradually felt myself relaxing. I took one tentative step forward and felt an excited thrill as the horse followed me. We continued slowly up the path towards town, stopping to look when we reached the town itself, before continuing up to the ranch. When we reached the ranch we walked over to the small paddock I had set up and with Vaughn's help I turned the horse loose. When he realized he was free he quickly trotted away from us to explore, the red ribbon on his halter fluttering slightly. The sight of the ribbon made me blush and I was glad I could blame it on the chill in the air.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Vaughn's POV _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

I watched the colt trot off and shot a glance at Chelsea out of the corner of my eye. I noticed her face was slightly red, but figured it must be from the slight chill in the air. _Silly girl, I gave you that jacket for a reason_ I thought to myself, shaking my head slightly.

"I need to head back into town for a bit and grab some of my stuff then I'll come back and help you two get acquainted with one another okay?" I asked. Though from the looks of it I wouldn't be needed. Chelsea seemed entranced by the colt and the feeling appeared to be mutual. I watched the two of them stare at one another across the small pen before leaving quietly. As soon as I was far enough away I hurried back down to town. I was all but running by the time I reached Mirabelle's and I had to take a moment to compose myself. It wasn't like I was anxious to get back or anything. Certainly not. I opened the door and barely managed to catch the bundle of black fuzz that tried to dash past me. Gently I picked up the puppy, all paws and squirming body before shutting the door behind me.

"Now you, you little monster, had better behave when you meet your new mom." The puppy gave a soft bark and licked at my hands before settling down. I chuckled softly before slipping a brown leather collar on over his head.

"Vaughn, you're back! So how did it go, are they getting along well?" Julia asked as she appeared from the back. I nodded, preoccupied with getting the collar to fit perfectly.

"So, are you going to put a red bow on the puppy too?" She asked in a teasing tone. I could feel my face heat up as I remembered tying the bow onto the halter.

"No," I replied, maybe a bit more sharply than I needed to. "You're lucky the first bow didn't scare the colt. I don't know why I listened to that idea of yours."

"'Cause her cowboy should bring her presents every once and a while," she replied with a wink.

"I'm not her cowboy," I retorted gruffly. _But you want to be_ a voice inside my head whispered. Scowling I turned to leave, making sure I had the puppy firmly contained in my arms. The last thing I needed to do was run around chasing it before it got into something.

"It would make her happy you know," Julia said as I was shutting the door. I stopped outside looking at the wiggling bundle in my arms. Shaking my head I put the thought aside and started walking back up to the ranch. However, it refused to be ignored and all the way up I kept hearing Julia's voice inside my head. When I got to the ranch house I quickly set the puppy down, making sure to keep a hold on the collar, and reached into my pocket. I pulled out a shiny red ribbon and quickly tied it to the collar. I scooped the puppy up before it could get a hold of the ribbon and headed towards the pasture.

I stopped a little ways away and just watch the two of them. Chelsea had gone inside the pasture and the colt was following her like he had spent every day with her. When she stopped he stopped, when she turned he turned. It was like watching two people engaged in an intricate dance. I had to admit to myself, I was impressed. It had taken me several days to get to that point with the animal and she had managed it in under an hour. I would have been content to watch the two of them longer but the little bundle in my arms had other plans. He gave a soft bark drawing their attention to us before squirming free of my arms. As soon as I felt him falling I instinctively crouched, shortening the distance he would fall. As soon as his paws hit the ground he was off and running towards the pasture. I felt a brief moment of panic, I wasn't sure how the colt would react to a small puppy running towards him and I was worried Chelsea might get hurt. Before I had time to react Chelsea scooped up the ball of black fur as he squirmed under the fence and held him out of harm's way. I knew the moment she noticed the red bow because her cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. _Interesting_. That meant that it hadn't been the cold earlier either. I smirked inwardly to myself as she slowly exited the pasture and walked towards me.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Chelsea's POV _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Trying to contain the squirming bundle of black fuzz was harder than I expected, and I was almost tempted to let him down and hope that he would just follow me. But I didn't want him running back into the pasture and getting stepped on so I just held onto him. I tried, and failed miserably, to control the blush I could feel growing on my face as I walked towards Vaughn. The puppy had a matching red bow on his collar and every time he squirmed the fabric brushed my hand reminding me it was there. Natalie and Julia's comments about presents kept ringing in my ear and I fought the urge to shake my head to get rid of them.

"So does this little guy have a name?" I asked once I reached where Vaughn was standing.

"Nope, but please promise me you won't name him Blackie." I laughed at the obvious distaste in his voice.

"You have such little faith in my naming abilities?" I replied, pretending to be hurt. The look in his eyes told me he wasn't buying my act. I smiled at him before looking down at the bundle in my arms. The puppy was coal black with startling blue eyes. One of his ears stood straight up while the other flopped over halfway down giving him a comical look. His paws were huge and I knew that if I let him down he'd probably trip over them. Just looking at him I knew he would grow up to be a large dog. A flash of white on his chest caught my eye and I noticed that he had a white spot in the shape of a star. I knew then and there what I was going to call him.

"How about Orion? How does that sound?" I asked, more to the puppy than to Vaughn. I was rewarded with a bark which made me laugh.

"That's a good name. How about the colt? Did you think of a name for him yet?"

I nodded, looking back at the pasture. "Dios, his name is Dios."

I started towards the stable, intending to put Orion in a stall before coming back to get Dios. I was surprised and a little thankful when Vaughn followed after me, leading Dios. I opened the door to the barn and let him walk in first. I shut the door and put Orion down just as Vaughn shut the door to a box stall. I watched him hang up the halter and rope, noticing once again the bright red ribbon.

"So, what's with the matching bows?" I asked, trying to act nonchalant. I could tell from the look in his eye that I was failing.

"Well, I figured since I was bringing you a few presents they should at least be dressed up as such," he replied smugly. That comment was all it took for my face to become an inferno and there was no point in hiding it. I bent down to pet Orion, who was busy trying to get a hold of his own ribbon. Laughing softly I untied it from his collar before scratching behind his ears.

"So what kind of present do I get the next time I see you Cowboy?" I retorted. If he wanted to play this game I would play.

"Well now, that depends on what you'd like," he replied moving closer to me. Looking up I stood slowly, watching as he continued to move closer. _I never realized how tall he is_ I thought to myself, looking up into his eyes. Several strands of hair escaped from underneath his hat and I caught myself wondering if the silver strands were really as soft as they looked.

"Your hat," I murmured, "I want your hat." I could feel my hand reaching up to touch it before his hand grabbed mine gently. _He's always so gentle even though he looks rough_, I thought as he slowly brought my hand back down.

"You can't have my hat Chelsea," he murmured. I couldn't tell if it was me but his voice sounded deeper, rougher than normal. Looking up into his eyes I realized he was close, we were almost touching. His eyes were dark now, and for the first time I noticed little flecks of blue imbedded in the steely grey. _They're so pretty,_ I thought as he leaned in slightly. I wasn't sure what was happening but I was jerked away from it with the sound of a crash. Whirling around I saw a jumble of buckets with Orion in the center. I laughed, both at my new puppy and with relief that I now had an excuse to run away from Vaughn and these new feelings.

"Alright pups," I said bending down to scoop him up, "I think it's time to get you in the house where I can keep an eye on you and there is nothing for you to get into." I turned to Vaughn, careful not to look at his face. "Thank you for bringing these two up and helping to get them settled. I guess, um, I'll see you tomorrow maybe? Or whenever, feel free to come up and work with Dios whenever you have the time. I'm, uh, gonna go get Orion settled in the house. Feel free to stay up here as long as you want. Night." I all but bolted out of the barn and back down to my house. Once I was back in my house I let Orion down and watched as he began to investigate the inside of my small home.

"What am I going to do if he actually comes back tomorrow?" I asked to no one in particular. All I got in response was a quick tail wag and soft bark.


	8. Why Don't You Find Out?

Author's note: Hi again! I've been away for a really long time =( entering graduate school will do that to you. Hopefully I'll start updating fairly regularly now since I need some way to de-stress after a long day in classes. This chapter might be a little different than the previous ones, I'm a little out of practice writing. I hope you enjoy, please read and review!

The next morning I was woken up well before sunrise by a soft whimpering. Confused I lifted my head and noticed a small black shape sitting in front of the door. My sleep fuzzed brain took a moment to register what the shape was before I realized it was Orion whining.

"You need to go outside huh?" I murmured to him. At his soft bark I groaned quietly and got up. Glancing at the clock I gave a mental shudder at the glowing 5:30 and decided to just throw jeans and a new shirt on. Changing quickly I looked around for something to tie to Orion's collar so he wouldn't run away. Not finding anything I looked at the little ball of fur sitting patiently by the door.

"I'm going to open this door and you better not run away and get lost okay? Vaughn would kill me if that happened," I said as I slowly opened the door. Orion bolted out the door and I panicked and quickly stepped outside intending to chase after him. I relaxed when I noticed that he had just run over to a patch of grass. As soon as he was done I called his name and felt a burst of pride when he tried to lope over to me. I had spent most of last night teaching him his name and it was nice to know that he had learned it that fast. I laughed as he got half way then get tangled up in his paws and tripped. Walking over I scooped him up and hugged him. I hadn't realized how much I had missed having a dog in my life until yesterday.

"Well since we're up might as well get started on the chores huh? But first some breakfast for both of us." Turning I walked back into the house.

A half hour later we emerged again and headed up towards the barns. I was pleased to see that Orion was curious about his new home, running off to investigate some new smell or plant, but he always came back when I called for him. I wasn't sure what I should do when I got to the barn with my cows, I didn't want to leave Orion outside but I wasn't sure if Daisy and Patches would like a small puppy running around their feet.

"Orion come here," I called, scooping him up when he got to me. "Now we're going to meet some new friends and you have to be nice and quiet so you don't scare them okay?" I laughed as he licked my hands and took that as a yes. Pushing open the door I held Orion close to me as my cows came to investigate what I had. As soon as I was sure that they would get along I set Orion down and went about feeding my cows and giving them a quick brushing.

"You girls really are getting to be pretty big huh? Soon you'll be able to spend all day outside instead of cooped up here in the barn. Though maybe that will have to wait until spring it's starting to get cold out." I laughed as Patches mooed at me. "Yeah maybe for now you'd like being in your nice warm barn instead of outside."

Finished with my cows I scooped up Orion and we went to go meet Peep. Once again I let both animals investigate each other before putting Orion down. This time however I watched him and made sure he didn't seem interested in chasing Peep. When he went over to investigate something in the corner I decided he wasn't interested in her and fed her and collected her egg.

"Maybe I'll get another chicken for you so that you're not lonely," I said as I watched my chicken peck at the feed. Then I remembered all the improvements to the town I had promised to fund and grimaced. Taro was excited that the bridge to the Meadow would be built soon because he could start planning festivals. I had to admit that that sounded like fun and so many of the townspeople were looking forward to them. I sighed and looked down again. "I'll try and get you a friend as soon as I can." Calling to Orion we walked outside and headed towards the barn. I was excited to see my new horse again but as I got to the door I stopped, memories from last night rushing back.

"What if he's in there?" I asked looking down at Orion. He sneezed and shook his head before pawing at the door to go in. Taking a deep breath I pushed open the door letting Orion run in before me. Cautiously looking inside, though now that the puppy was in the barn fully intent on exploring every nook and cranny it was a little useless, I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed no one else was in the barn. _Relief or disappointment?_ a little voice whispered in my head. Scowling slightly at the traitorous thought I walked over to stare into the large box stall. Dios was still as gorgeous as the day before, his coat shining and eyes bright. I was surprised and happy to see that he had lain down during the night, little bits of shavings were stuck to his coat on one side of his body.

"Sorry big guy did we wake you up?" I murmured as I reached over the door to let him sniff me. I felt another rush of pride as he pushed is muzzle into my hand. Reaching up I gently scratched under his jaw and laughed as he wiggled his lips. "Oh you like that do you?" I kept scratching until I heard a loud crash which startled us both. Whirling around I once again saw Orion in the middle of a pile of buckets wagging his tail and looking very pleased with himself.

"You little trouble maker you were being so good this morning too," I said as I walked over to pick up the buckets. Noticing the bag of feed I picked it up, making a noise of surprise as I realized it was so heavy, before depositing it in the feed bin. Taking a small scoop of it I dumped it in a bucket before taking it over to the stall. "I don't know how much of this you're supposed to get so I can't give you much but this should hold you over until I can ask someone." I clipped the bucket to the inside of the door and watched as Dios happily munched on his food. When he was done he bumped the bucket as if asking for more. I shook my head. "Nope that's all for right now but I'll come back and see you later after I'm done with my chores." Giving him a goodbye scratch under his chin I grabbed Orion before he could get into something else, grabbed the rope off Dios's halter, and went outside.

"Alright now I need to go look after my crops so you can go investigate but don't wander too far okay? Then we'll go down to town and meet everyone." As soon as I put him down he was off exploring. Shaking my head at how much energy a puppy has I walked over and started tending my crops.

Almost two hours later I had finished weeding, watering, harvesting, and clearing more land to plant. I had had to stop when I ran into a tree stump and I was vexed that even after trying to dig it up and chop it into smaller pieces it still remained firmly in place. But I had gotten five more rows of crops planted and I had started collecting more lumber. I wasn't sure what I was going to use it for but I figured that I could expand the corral I had or I could make another one. By now it was light out and I figured that most everyone in town would be up so it would be okay to go down and introduce people to my new puppy. _That and you need to find Vaughn and ask him your questions about Dios_. I blushed at the thought of finding Vaughn. _I can't even think about him without reacting how am I going to stay calm when I find him?_ Sighing I gathered my tools and called for Orion as I headed back to the house. Dropping everything off inside and making sure that I wasn't too covered in dirt I clipped the rope onto Orion's collar before heading down to town.

The trip to town took twice as long as normal because Orion was so distracted by everything as we walked. Any hole in the ground needed to be fully explored and investigated to ensure there was nothing fascinating down it. By the time we finally got to town people were outside working. I waved to Charlie and Chen as I passed their shop and remembered I still hadn't bought myself a proper jacked. _You still have Vaughn's though_ my mind whispered. _And I need to give it back at the next opportunity_ I snapped back. Great now I'm arguing with myself I though. Spying Natalie and Julia I tugged on the rope to get Orion's attention and headed towards them.

"Oh my gosh Chelsea it's so cute! What's it's name?" Natalie asked bending down to say hello.

"His name's Orion," I replied smiling as he got distracted but Natalie's fingers wiggling in front of his nose.

"He is very cute isn't he," Julia stated ruffling Orion's ears before turning her attention to me. I decided at this point that the tips of Orion's ears were extremely fascinating and I kept my eyes glued to the black ball of fuzz rather than look up at her.

"So," she started slowly, "how's your other present doing?" At this Natalie glanced up from playing with Orion and grinned. "Yeah Chelsea, how's your other addition doing? Anything happen with your cowboy last night?" I hesitated before responding then cursed silently as they exchanged a look.

"Not that it's either of your business but no nothing happened last night. And once again, for the record, he's not my cowboy." I hope I sounded more self assured than I felt. Glancing at Natalie and Julia I knew I hadn't fooled them at all.

"Oh really?" Natalie started, "Because we just happened to be sitting in the house last night when a certain someone came back and he looked a little flustered. I'm surprised that hat of his didn't catch fire." She smirked at the look on my face. "Apparently he's not nearly as good at hiding his emotions as he thinks. You must have riled him up good girl cause he saw us sitting there and practically turned tail and ran back out the door." She and Julia started laughing remembering the previous night. I felt a brief pang of guilt at making Vaughn feel uncomfortable but it was quickly replaced with relief that I wasn't the only one being affected.

"So really, tell us all about last night," Julia said as she hooked her arm in mine and lead us towards her house.

"I don't know what there is to tell, nothing big actually happened," I muttered. I bent down to scoop up Orion as we walked inside.

"But something could have happened?" Natalie prodded. I blushed before nodding. Looking around I made sure we were alone before continuing.

"I thought…well…I thought maybe he'd kiss me," I whispered, my face so hot I could feel the heat radiating from it.

"WHAT?!" Julia and Natalie yelped before covering their mouths and looking at each other. Their reaction embarrassed me further and I busied myself looking at different books on animal care. I found one on horses and picked it up not bothering to look at them yet.

"Chelsea that's-" she stopped as someone pushed open the door. The sound of boots on hardwood floor reached me and I knew who had come in without turning around.

"Um, hi Vaughn. Chelsea stopped by…um…" I could hear Julia fumbling for something to say so I took a deep breath before turning around.

"I stopped by to ask about what and how much Dios should be eating. I also needed to pick up a leash and dog bowls for Orion." I smiled through my lie hoping he wouldn't notice…alright it wasn't a total lie, I did need to pick that stuff up but it wasn't why I was here now. He gave us all a look that said he didn't really believe us.

"Don't bother, I picked everything up on the mainland I was going to get it and bring it to you," he said, pulling on the brim of his hat.

"Are they red?" Natalie snickered. I _accidentally _ground my heel into her toe and was impressed that she managed to swallow her yelp. I glared at her and she gave me a sheepish look. Vaughn looked between us before shaking his head, in either confusion or exasperation I couldn't tell, and headed back towards his room.

"That was not funny," I hissed at Natalie as soon as I was sure he was out of hearing distance.

"I don't know, I kind of like seeing him with his feathers ruffled," she responded as she bent to examine her toes. An unknown feeling coiled up inside me and I was horrified to realize it was jealousy.

"Natalie-" I cut it off as the sound of boots hit my ears. Glancing towards the back I saw Vaughn carrying a rather large bag. As he walked by me and opened the door I took it as my signal to leave and saying goodbye to Julia and Natalie I followed him out the door.

The walk up to the farm as quiet and rather awkward. Occasionally I'd ask him questions, mainly related to the care and training of horses and he'd respond and then we'd lapse back into silence. I had never been happier to see my house.

"Why don't you put Orion inside the house so we can work with Dios," Vaughn said stopping at the house. He set down the bag and reached into it pulling out two dog bowls, a leather leash, and food.

"Sure, I'll do that just let me take this stuff inside and let me get him settled. Feel free to head up to the barn if you want," I replied picking everything up and turning towards him. I saw him nod before picking up the bag again and heading towards the barn. I heaved a sigh. _So far so good._ Leading Orion inside I got him water and put some food in the bowl before heading up to the barn.

When I walked inside I was surprised to see that Dios was still in his stall and Vaughn was pulling all sorts of things out of his bag.

I walked over until I was practically leaning over him to look at everything. "What's all this stuff?" He looked up at me, quite a feat since he hadn't taken his hat off. "This is all stuff that you'll need for training and daily care," he replied. He grabbed something out of the pile and stood up. "Time for your first lesson," he smirked and a feeling of dread came over me.

Almost two hours later both Dios and I were covered in sweat and Vaughn called a halt to our "lesson". We had gone over so much I was having trouble remembering it all. I learned how to properly brush and pick out Dios's hooves and we worked on leading with me leading the way and not Dios. Vaughn explained that this is all stuff that Dios knows and that this was for me so I would know how to take care of him. The second part of the lesson was new to both of us. Vaughn had instructed me in teaching Dios voice commands for walking, trotting, cantering and halting.

"You both did very well," Vaughn said as he watched Dios follow me around the small paddock. Smiling I clip the rope back onto his halter and waited for Vaughn to open the gate for us before heading back to the barn.

"Yes you did very good, you're such a smart boy," I murmured as I scratched under Dios's chin. After putting Dios back in his stall Vaughn and I put away the rest of the stuff he had brought up and he explained what each piece was for. Every time our hands would brush I could feel heat start to rise in my face and I was glad that I was flushed from working so it was less obvious.

"Well, I guess I should get going since that's all I have to teach you for today. We'll work on the same stuff tomorrow and you and he should practice as much as you can and next Wednesday maybe we'll add something new." I nodded and we walked outside. As we walked towards my house I found that I couldn't keep from glancing over at him.

"So, I guess I'll be seeing more of you then huh?" I asked, fidgeting slightly as I waited for him to answer. I smiled to myself as he yanked on the brim of his hat. _Embarrassed Cowboy? Good to know I'm not the only one._

"Yeah, I'll be up here helping with the colt when I can so I guess you'll see me more often." Now it was his turn to fidget. I smiled as I leaned up against my door.

"Something on your mind Cowboy?" I teased. I laughed when he scowled at me.

"You said you wanted something from me in exchange for taking the colt," he muttered looking away from me. I had to laugh, he looked like a little boy awaiting punishment.

"Well, if I remember correctly," I said as I reached out and flicked the brim of his hat, "I think I asked for your hat and you told me I couldn't have it. So I guess I could come up with something else to ask for. Hmmmm, how about…" _Natalie you'd be so proud of this _"how about a kiss?" I asked hoping I sounded calmer than I actually was. I laughed as a look of shock and disbelief flashed across his face followed by crimson. I promptly stopped laughing as he leaned in close leaning one arm against the door.

"You sure that's what you want," he replied. I swallowed not sure what to say. _As Natalie would say you have well and truly ruffled his feathers now girl_. I was completely unprepared for a slight weight to drop on my head and all of a sudden I was looking at what I assumed was the inside of his hat. Pushing the brim up so I could see I was met with his smirking face.

"Doesn't really fit you does it?" He said as he made a move to take it back. I reflexively reached up and pulled it down farther on my head.

"Nah ah Cowboy it's mine now," I said ducking away from his hand. "You want it back you gotta give me something in exchange." Okay so I was being childish, but I was a little disappointed he had opted to give me his hat. And if I was completely honest with myself I wasn't ready for him to leave. His eyes narrowed and he ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. _I wonder if his hair's as soft as it looks?_

"I don't know why don't you find out" he snapped. _Oh crap did I say that out loud?_

"Fine then I will, stand still," I responded bringing my hand up to the side of his head. When he didn't flinch away I slowly brushed a strand of hair behind his ears. I let my hand continue and brushed my fingers down the side of his neck.

- Vaughn's POV-

The moment I felt her fingers brush the back of my neck I couldn't stop myself from closing my eyes and letting out a low groan. _The things this girl does to me_. My heart had almost stopped when she asked for a kiss and an embarrassingly large portion of my brain had urged me to do it. I slowly opened my eyes and found her watching me as she played with the hair at the base of my neck.

"What are we doing Chelsea," I murmured my voice deeper than normal.

"I don't know," she whispered drawing my attention to her lips. _I wonder if they're as soft as they look…_I heard her soft gasp and cursed inwardly.

"Why don't you find out?" A slight pressure on the back of my neck, was that intentional or instinctual, had me leaning towards her.

"Fine, I will," I replied mimicking her earlier comment. I slowly brought my hand up to the side of her face, cradling her cheek in my palm. "Stand still," I whispered roughly before touching my lips to hers.

-Chelsea's POV-

I was in shock, pure and utter shock. Vaughn, mister surly, grouchy, silent cowboy was kissing me! Closing my eyes I tried to pull him closer to me, kissing him back. He pulled back and I opened my eyes slightly. His were dark with an emotion I couldn't identify and I felt a loss as he slowly withdrew his hand and retrieved his hat.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said roughly before turning to head down the path towards town. I let him go too stunned to come up with a witty remark. I slowly turned and walked inside, leaning against the door. I barely noticed Orion licking my hand as I slowly slid to the floor.

"Oh Orion, now I've really gone and done it," I whispered as I scooped him up for a hug. "What on earth am I going to do tomorrow?"


End file.
